Licht (Light), subtitled "Die sieben Tage der Woche" (The Seven Days of the Week), is a cycle of seven operas composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen between 1977 and 2003. The composer described the work as an "eternal spiral" because "there is neither end nor beginning to the week." Licht consists of 29 hours of music.
Origin The Licht opera project, originally titled Hikari (光, Japanese for "light"), originated with a piece for dancers and Gagaku orchestra commissioned by the National Theatre in Tokyo. Titled Der Jahreslauf (The Course of the Years), this piece became the first act of Dienstag. Another important Japanese influence is from Noh theater, which the composer cites in connection with his conception of stage action. The cycle also draws on elements from the Judeo-Christian and Vedic traditions. The title of Licht owes something to Sri Aurobindo's theory of "Agni" (the Hindu and Vedic fire deity), developed from two basic premises of nuclear physics, and Stockhausen's conception of the Licht superformula also owes a great deal to Sri Aurobindo's category of the "supramental". It is centered on three main characters, Michael, Eve, and Lucifer.
Many of the events in the opera refer to The Urantia Book, which was sold to Stockhausen by a remarkable figure during his New York Philharmonic concert in 1971. In his analysis of the cycle, Gregg Wager states that "There can be little doubt ... that Stockhausen's first and foremost inspiration for Lucifer's rebellion ... originated from the Urantia Book ... specific terms such as "Local System", "Planetary Princes" or "Paradise Sons" can only be from the Urantia Book". Wager also points to the fact that Michael is clearly identified in Donnerstag as originating from "Nebadon", which is another location name peculiar to the Urantia Book. The emblems of Michael and Lucifer in Licht are also derived from the Urantia Book.
According to Stockhausen biographer Michael Kurtz, "Michael, Lucifer and Eve are, for Stockhausen, more than theatrical figures. They are the expression of a world beyond, to which terrestrial eyes are blind, but which is given concrete form by The Urantia Book and other sources." Wager also takes care to assert that Lucifer, Eve, and Michael are "personal inventions of Stockhausen's that were made more meaningful through the Urantia Book. ... The listener can also assume that Stockhausen has used these symbols freely and enjoys the style of absurdist theater manifested in Originale where no clear meaning is apparent." Furthermore, according to Markus Bandur, the Urantia Book references are concealed by means of associative strategies to other fields of meaning and, as work progressed on Licht after the first-composed opera, Donnerstag, their significance progressively diminishes. The importance of the Urantia Book for Stockhausen's work should not be overestimated.
Structure The musical structure of the cycle is based on three counterpointed main melodies (or "formulas"), each associated with a central character. It follows the method of super-formula composition: these melodies define both the tonal centers and durations of scenes as a whole, as well as the melodic phrasing in detail. Each of the three central characters is also associated with an instrument: Michael with the trumpet, Eve with the basset horn, and Lucifer with the trombone. [See : the Licht superformula.]
Stockhausen's conception of opera is more akin to the tableaux of the Renaissance masque and its hermetic cosmology than to traditional dramatic and climactic structures typical of the past two centuries. Because of its circular structure, in which the seven days of the week must be passed through again and again, a moral critique is rendered impossible, since the themes of the days perpetually return as permanent features of reality. This in turn reflects Stockhausen's theological outlook, which offers a perspective beyond the superficial differences and opposites that place limitations on thought and hope. Licht is not therefore primarily about the conflict between good and evil, but rather is a drama of latent tensions concerning a dispute about different conceptions of reality.
The cycle is constructed modularly. Not only is each of the seven operas a self-sufficient work, but so are the individual acts, scenes, and—in some cases—portions of scenes. These modules may be segments (e.g., the eleven instrumental solo sections from Orchester-Finalisten from Mittwoch), or layers (e.g., the electronic Oktophonie layer from the second act of Dienstag or the Klavierstück XIII version of the first scene of Samstag (Luzifers Traum), with the bass voice omitted), or a combination of the two (e.g., the vocal sextet Menschen, hört and the Bassetsu-Trio, which are two layers of the "Karusel" subscene from Michaelion, the fourth scene of Mittwoch).
The seven days There are seven operas, each named for a day of the week, whose subject matter reflects attributes associated in traditional mythologies with each day. These attributes in turn rest on the seven planets of Antiquity (and their associated deities) from which the day-names are derived: Monday = The Moon Tuesday = Mars Wednesday = Mercury Thursday = Jupiter Friday = Venus Saturday = Saturn Sunday = The Sun Stockhausen sought to fashion the subjects for each opera through absorption in the traditions of this planet and immersion into the intuitive meaning of each day of the week—meanings of which most people are not aware. The cycle has neither a "beginning" nor an "ending"; like the days of the week, each opera leads to the next one, so that the conflict of Tuesday is followed by the reconciliation of Wednesday, and the mystical union of Sunday prepares the way for the new life of Monday. "In this way there is neither end nor beginning to the week. It is an eternal spiral". Each opera is composed from an elaborated form of the corresponding day-segment of the superformula, made by superimposing one or more complete lines from the superformula, compressed to the length of the day-segment. These are named for the day in question (e.g., Mittwoch-Formel.) The separate acts and scenes often involve further superimpositions of formula material. For example, "Luzifers Traum", the first scene of Samstag, has a total of five layers.
Each day is also assigned a principal (or "exoteric") colour, as well as one or more secondary (or "esoteric") colours.
Monday (1984–1988)
Montag, composed between 1984 and 1988, is dedicated to Eve. It features an orchestra with synthesizers (called a "modern orchestra" by Stockhausen), backing 21 performers (14 voices, 6 instruments and an actor), as well as adult and children's choirs. The opera is in three acts, framed by a "greeting" and a "farewell." (This framing applies, with variation, to each opera in the cycle: a "greeting" either in the foyer of the opera house or in the auditorium, and a "farewell" after the performance, played either in the auditorium or outside the theater.) Mondays exoteric colour is bright green; its esoteric colours are opal and silver. The scenes and subscenes are as follows: Montags-Gruß (Monday's Greeting) Act 1: Evas Erstgeburt (Eve's First Birth-giving) scene 1: In Hoffnung (Expecting) scene 2: Heinzelmännchen scene 3: Geburts-Arien (Birth Arias) scene 4: Knaben-Geschrei (Boys' Hullaballoo) scene 5: Luzifers Zorn (Lucifer's Fury) scene 6: Das große Geweine (The Great Weeping) Act 2: Evas Zweitgeburt (Eve's Second Birth-giving) scene 1: Mädchenprozession (Girls' Prozession) scene 2: Befruchtung mit Klavierstück—Wiedergeburt (Conception with Piano Piece—Rebirth) scene 3: Evas Lied (Eve's Song) Act 3: Evas Zauber (Eve's Magic) scene 1: Botschaft (Message) scene 2: Der Kinderfänger (The Pied Piper) [literally, "The Child-Catcher"] scene 3: Entführung (Abduction) Montags-Abschied (Monday's Farewell)
445 photos of Montag aus Licht at La Scala, Milan, Google Arts & Culture
Tuesday (1977–1991)
After having composed the three "solo" operas (Thursday, Saturday and Monday), Stockhausen proceeded to explore all combinations of the characters. Dienstag is the day of conflict between Michael and Lucifer. After the opening greeting, two acts follow: Jahreslauf (Course of the Years) and Invasion-Explosion mit Abschied (Invasion-Explosion with Farewell). Dienstag is an opera for 17 performers (three solo voices, ten solo instrumentalists, and four dancer-mimes), actors, mimes, choir, a "modern orchestra" (29 to 32 instruments including synthesizers) and, in the second act, electronic music (titled "Oktophonie") projected in eight channels, with loudspeakers arranged at the corners of a cube shape around the audience. Since it is a "layer," this taped octophonic electronic music may be heard by itself. Tuesday'''s colour is red. The opera falls into the following sections and subsections: Dienstags-Gruß, Nr. 60 (1987–88) Willkommen Friedens-Gruß Act 1: Jahreslauf (Course of the Years), Nr. 47 (1977/1991) Act 2: Invasion-Explosion mit Abschied (Invasion-Explosion with Farewell), Nr. 61 (1990–91) Erste Luftabwehr (First Air-defense) Erste Invasion (First Invasion) Zweite Luftabwehr (Second Air-defense) Zweite Invasion (Second Invasion) Pietà Dritte Invasion (Third Invasion) Jenseits (Beyond) Synthi-Fou Abschied (Farewell)
Wednesday (1992–1998)Mittwoch is characterized by the cooperation of Eve, Michael and Lucifer. Composed between 1992 and 1998, the opera consists of four scenes: Welt-Parlament (World Parliament), Orchester-Finalisten (Orchestra Finalists), Helikopter-Streichquartett (Helicopter String Quartet), and Michaelion. The third scene, which has acquired a certain celebrity, is scored, as its name implies, for four stringed instruments and four helicopters, the latter used both as a performatic device and a sound source. The greeting for Mittwoch is the electronic part of scene 4; the farewell is the electronic music from scene 2. The latter, like the electronic music for act 2 of Dienstag, is projected octophonically through speakers arranged at the corners of a cube surrounding the audience. Wednesdays colour is bright yellow. The main divisions and their subdivisions are: Mittwochs-Gruß Scene 1: Welt-Parlament Scene 2: Orchester-FinalistenOboe Violoncello Klarinette Fagott Violine Tuba Flöte Posaune Viola Trompete Kontrabaß Horn Orchester-Tutti Scene 3: Helikopter-Streichquartett (1993) Scene 4: Michaelion Präsidium Luzikamel Kakabel Shoe-Shine Serenade Taschen-Trick (Pocket Trick) Kamel-Tanz (Camel Dance) Stierkampf (Bullfight) Operator Thinki Bassetsu Trio (Karussell) (Carousel) "Menschen, hört" (Raum-Sextette) ("Listen, People"—Space-Sextet) Mittwochs-Abschied Thursday (1978–1980) Donnerstag is an opera for 14 performers (three voices, eight instrumentalists, three dancers) plus a choir, an orchestra, and tapes. Though not the first part of Licht to be started, it was the first opera in the cycle to be completed, having been written between 1978 and 1980. Thursday is the day of the archangel Michael, and the story is centered on this character. It opens in the foyer with a "greeting" for an ensemble of brass and percussion, followed in the theater by three acts, and ends outside the theater with a "farewell", played from the surrounding rooftops by five trumpeters. The 16-channel tape composition Unsichtbare Chöre (Invisible Choirs, 1979) is incorporated into act 1, and again into act 3, scene 1. Stockhausen's Klavierstück XII is an arrangement of act 1, scene 3, and a number of other segments were arranged by the composer for separate performance. Thursday's exoteric colour is bright blue. It is made up of the following parts:Donnerstags-Gruß (Thursday's Greeting) Act 1: Michaels Jugend (Michael's Youth; employs Unsichtbare Chöre) scene 1: Kindheit (Childhood) scene 2: Mondeva (Moon-Eve) scene 3: Examen (Examination) Erstes Examen (First Examination)